Better weight training for university athletes

Until last spring, the UB football team’s weight-training workouts seemed more like an exercise in scheduling dexterity than physical strength.

That’s because the weight room was too small to accommodate the entire squad, so players had to work out in shifts. “In the time I’ve been here, they’d rearranged the space three times to try to get more equipment and more people in there,” says offensive lineman Jamey Richard. “But there was only so much you could do.” When Robert Morris learned of the problem, he and his wife, Carol, donated $500,000 to build a sports performance center for UB’s 500-plus student-athletes.

The 6,000-square-foot metal building, which doubled the space for intercollegiate student-athlete sports performance training, is filled with new equipment. According to head strength coach Ryan Groneman, the facility is not just meeting the needs of UB’s current athletes—it’s helping recruit new athletes as well.

“They’ll come in during a tour and say, ‘Wow, this looks nice.’ I think it’s one of the best in the [Mid-American Conference].”